Local history1601 – 19197 events

Suwon

From Jeongjo’s new city of Hwaseong to the tragedy of Jeam-ri — where a king’s filial devotion and reform politics were built into stone walls

수원 화성 화서문 — 정조 때(1794~1796) 쌓은 화성의 서문
수원 화성 화서문 — 정조 때(1794~1796) 쌓은 화성의 서문

d'n'c (a flickr user) · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

At a glance

PeriodEventKey points
JoseonHwaseong construction uigweCrane drawings, records; basis for restoration
Late JoseonDeath of Crown Prince Sado1762 → tomb moved to Suwon 1789
Late JoseonJangyongyeongJeongjo’s guard; outer camp at Hwaseong
Late JoseonHwaseong builtJeong Yak-yong’s design, crane; World Heritage
Late JoseonRoyal processionLady Hyegyeong’s 60th; pontoon bridge; uigwe
Colonial eraMarch First MovementProtests around Suwon and Hwaseong
Colonial eraJeam-ri massacreRevenge for Balan protest; church burned

The theme on the map

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7 events in this theme

  1. Illustrated records of royal weddings, funerals, investitures and building works, in text and pictures; Memory of the World since 2007.

  2. Yeongjo deposed the crown prince and locked him in a rice chest in front of Munjeongjeon Hall at Changgyeonggung; Prince Sado died eight days later.

  3. Jeongjo created the Jangyongyeong royal guard with an inner garrison in the capital and an outer one at Hwaseong in Suwon; through the chogye munsin system he retrained young officials.

  4. Jeongjo built a new fortress at Suwon, where he had moved his father’s tomb. Jeong Yak-yong helped design it and introduced a crane; the work was recorded in a detailed royal protocol.

  5. In 1795 King Jeongjo took his mother, Lady Hyegyeong, to Hwaseong — where his father Crown Prince Sado lay in Hyeollyungwon — for her sixtieth birthday. The whole journey was recorded in the Wonhaeng Eulmyo Jeongni Uigwe and painted on folding screens.

  6. Beginning on 1 March 1919 with the reading of a declaration of independence, demonstrations spread across the country. It led to the founding of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

  7. Japanese troops herded the men of Jeam-ri, Hwaseong, into the church, shot them and set it on fire, killing over twenty.

Key people

  • Jeongjo1752 – 1800

    Twenty-second king of Joseon, founder of the Gyujanggak library and builder of Hwaseong Fortress

  • Yeongjo1694 – 1776

    Twenty-first king of Joseon, known for his impartiality policy and tax reform, and for the death of his son

  • Crown Prince Sado1735 – 1762

    Yeongjo's son and Jeongjo's father, who died locked in a rice chest

  • Jeong Yak-yong (Dasan)1762 – 1836

    Silhak scholar who helped design Hwaseong; exiled to Gangjin, where he wrote the Mongmin simseo